Weather Journal

The Weather Doctor's Amazing Weather Facts-3

The Weather Doctor has been gathering amazing weather facts for many years. Here are some more of them that you can use to impress your friends with your weather knowledge.

WINTER FACTS
At its height around 1900, nearly eight million tons of Wisconsin ice were shipped annually for use in refrigeration. In one year, breweries alone consumed three million tons to make and distribute beer.
Hurricane Alice holds the distinction of being both the latest and the earliest Atlantic hurricane on record. It became a hurricane on 31 December 1954 then battered the Leeward Islands with 136 km/h (85 mph) winds the next day — 1 January 1955.
According to Walter Lyons' The Handy Weather Answer Book, the snowiest inhabited location in the western United States is Blue Canyon, California, northeast of Sacramento. The town lies at an elevation of 1,730 feet (567 m) in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada and averages 241 inches (612 cm) of snow per year.
During the Great Blizzard of 1888, snowdrifts 10-13 feet (30 to 4 m) high and over a mile (1.6 km) long were reported in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

SPRING FACTS
May is the month with fewest tropical storms across the globe. On average, only about 40-50 tropical storms form globally per 100 years during May, about one every two years.
20 May 1916, 1917, 1918, Codell, Kansas: Codell is hit by a tornado on May 20th for three consecutive years. Each successive one is more damaging. The tornadoes are estimated to be F2, F3 and F4 respectively on the Fujita Scale.

SUMMER FACTS
On 17 July 1862 the Englishmen James Glaisher and Henry Coxwell reached 11 km (7 mi) altitude over Wolverhampton, England intending to take high altitude measurements. However, they were soon in no position to take those measurements as Glaisher was unconscious from lack of oxygen and Coxwell so numb from cold he had to open the gas release valve with his teeth.
In the United States, most flood-related deaths are due to flash floods, and fifty percent of all flash-flood fatalities are vehicle-related.
All other factors being equal, baseballs fly farther in Denver than at lower elevations such as New York City. The lower air pressure at the "Mile-High" city of Denver compared to the air pressure at sea-level New York means more balls to make it over the fence at Coors Field than Yankee Stadium.
The most favourable period for the D-Day invasion of Normandy by Allied forces during World War II was, in part, selected by climatologists. They determined that conditions during early to mid June 1944 were most likely to meet the needs of air, naval and land forces for a successful landing.
The violent convection caused by a continuous area of intense fire and characterized by destructively violent up draughts may generate tornado-like vortices that swirl air as hot as 2000 C to speeds in excess of 150 mph (250 km/h).
During the years 1996 through 1999, more severe thunderstorm weather events formed in Maricopa County (Phoenix area), Arizona, than in the five county area encompassing Kansas City Missouri/Kansas.

AUTUMN FACTS
Globally, September is the most active month for tropical storms.
In the Atlantic, Hurricane Gilbert went from 960 hPa to 888 hPa in a 24 hour period for a 3 hPa/hr pressure drop. The winds went from 127 mph to 184 mph (205 to 296 km/h) in that 24 hour period.
1954's Hurricane Hazel was the second hurricane to have its name retired.
The Bathurst Bay Hurricane produced a 13 m (42.6 ft) surge in Bathurst Bay, Australia in 1899.

GENERAL FACTS
Looking for the beauty of weather indoors? Visit an art gallery and find a blizzard of examples. It has been estimated that 53 percent of paintings are weather-related or depict weather in them.
The Anemoi were the Greek gods of the four directional winds: Boreas the North Wind, Zephryos the West Wind, Notos the South Wind and Euros the East Wind.
Polar regions display the world's best haloes, with the most brilliant generally at the South Pole where the airborne ice crystals are generally pure and homogenous.
Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream" was inspired by blood-red mountain-wave clouds at sunset.
In London alone the city's transport lost property office retrieves 7,026 lost umbrellas each year.
The first operational numerical weather forecasts in the United States were run on an IBM704 which had an operational speed of 0.008 Mflops and memory of 0.02 MB. Today's Pentium 4, 2.2 GHz home computer works at 800 Mflops and memory of 60 GB.

For More Amazing Weather Facts, See
The Weather Doctor's Amazing Weather Facts, and
The Weather Doctor's Amazing Weather Facts--2

Learn More From These Relevant Books
Chosen by The Weather Doctor

• Williams, Jack: The Weather Book, 1997, Vintage Books, ISBN 0-679-77665-6.
• Burt, Christopher C.: Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book, 2004 (pb), W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 039333015X.

Written by
Keith C. Heidorn, PhD, THE WEATHER DOCTOR,
April 1, 2006

The Weather Doctor's Journal The Weather Doctor's Amazing Weather Facts-3
©2006, Keith C. Heidorn, PhD. All Rights Reserved.
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